Winners announced in international grant competition to accelerate technology for spinal cord injury

Details

11 December 2018

Congratulations to the winners of the international grant competition Canada India SCI Innovation Award – Getting Solutions to Market

December 11, 2018 – New Delhi, India. For the millions of people living with spinal cord injuries around the world, technology can have a profound impact on their quality of life. The challenge is advancing the research that makes technology applicable, cost-effective and available for the people they are intended to help.

Today, the Indian Spinal Injuries Centre (ISIC), IC-IMPACTS and the Rick Hansen Institute announced winners of an international grant competition called the Canada India SCI Innovation Award – Getting Solutions to Market. The five winners were granted $30,000 CAD each and international support in order to accelerate their innovative research in the hopes of making it commercially available to people with spinal cord injuries.

The announcement was made during a special ceremony hosted at ISIC. Dr. V.K. Paul, Member, Niti Aayog, Government of India and Chairman, Medical Council of India was the Honoured Guest and declared the winners of the awards. This competition is the product of a partnership agreement between the three organizations announced in February 2018 by the Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science and Sport in New Delhi.

The applications were reviewed by a joint expert committee consisting of members from Canada and India, including research and practitioner communities formed by IC-IMPACTS, Rick Hansen Institute and ISIC. Based on the peer-review, five strong projects emerged:

Project work will commence immediately with the goal of demonstrating the effectiveness of the innovative technologies for the Canadian and Indian marketplace within the next two years.

Funding for this partnership was made possible by the Government of Canada.

Quotes:

"These innovative projects are clear examples of leading researchers coming together to address some of the most serious health challenges facing Canadians. I appreciate the work of these talented individuals who are collaborating to create marketable products and technologies that improve the health of Canadians."

—The Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science and Sport, Government of Canada

"Our lives are unpredictable but when tragedy strikes, it is up to us to get up and brave the odds. Spinal cord injury hampers our productivity as well as our mental well-being. These innovators who have developed path-breaking solutions to beat the problems and help the injured deserve our sincerest thanks and gratitude. But scaling up innovations and bringing them to the market have always been a challenge. We need to create an enabling environment so that they feel motivated and inspire more to join the league."

—Dr. V.K. Paul, Member, Niti Aayog, Government of India and Chairman, Medical Council of India

“We are thrilled to support these promising and innovative research projects that have the potential to dramatically improve the lives of people living with spinal cord injuries. I am grateful to our partners at ISIC and IC-IMPACTS for a collaboration that can accelerate the rate at which new technologies or knowledge is translated to a real-world setting.”

—Bill Barrable, CEO, Rick Hansen Institute

“Collaboration between Canadian and Indian researchers is incredibly important to advance innovations and to effect real change in both nations, which face similar health, infrastructure and water-related challenges. We are delighted to partner with RHI and ISIC and to support these winning projects, which aim to demonstrate effective technologies that improve the lives of people living with spinal cord injury.”

—Dr. Nemkumar Banthia, CEO and Scientific Director, IC-IMPACTS

"ISIC has always been keen to improve the standard of treatment and care of people living with Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) and is relentlessly working in that direction. The biggest challenge, apart from cost, is the shortage of aids and appliances to particular need. However, in order to improve the standard of the treatment and care of people with SCI, we have to ensure a steady stream of innovations and innovative ideas that are scaled up and brought to market. We have several talented researchers, clinicians and faculties from reputed institutes of India and Canada at this workshop titled ‘Innovation through Design Thinking’. The workshop is designed to highlight and appreciate their innovative deeds. I am hoping that some of these innovations will soon see the neon of the markets and be useful to those who are waiting for these products for a long time now. "

About the Partners

IC-IMPACTS Centres of Excellence is a not-for-profit organization, established by the Federal Government of Canada through the Centres of Excellence Program to serve as a pan-Canadian agency responsible for the delivery of research programs in the areas of sustainable infrastructure, integrated water management, and public health, disease prevention, and treatment between Canada and India. IC-IMPACTS is the only Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) with a mandate focused on research collaborations between Canada and India.

Rick Hansen Institute is a Canadian-based not-for-profit organization that drives spinal cord injury research and innovation around the world. The Institute facilitates a network of international researchers, healthcare professionals, entrepreneurs, investors and people with spinal cord injuries to find practical solutions to what is one of the most debilitating, costly and life-altering chronic health conditions. We are committed to accelerating the translation of discoveries and best practices into improved treatments for people with spinal cord injuries.

Indian Spinal Injuries Centre is the most advanced Spine, Orthopedic and Neuromuscular Surgical centre in India with the latest state of the art diagnostics and surgical equipments and a highly qualified team of specialists recognized internationally who have been trained in leading institutes of India and abroad. Indian Spinal Injuries Centre provides state of the art facilities for the management of all types of spinal ailments. The goal is to reach the lives of thousands of newly spinal injured every year by providing medical excellence through scientific expertise and to optimize self-sufficiency and independence for the rehabilitation patients.